FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-The biggest game of the year and the Ottawa Senators turned in their best performance of the season. This Boston Bruins team was one of the league’s hottest coming into last night and the Senators were up to the task. Up and down the line up- top players and fourth line. Power play and goaltending. Everyone on the team came to play tonight and it was fun to watch. There has been a lot of talk about the possibility of these two teams colliding in the first round of the playoffs. If it does end up that way, the Senators sent a pretty strong message to the Bruins with this performance. There has been a steep learning curve for this team under Boucher but they are starting to look like a group all pulling in the same direction. The way they’ve been able to elevate their game against the other top teams is fun to watch.
-Brent Burns is going to win the Norris Trophy. The media decided that a couple months ago. Burns has been terrific offensively and while his defensive game is a little rough around the edges, that no longer matters apparently. But what’s unfortunate is that in all the obsession over Burns, the hockey world is missing a truly remarkable season by Erik Karlsson. Again. He’s done everything the Coaching staff has asked of him this year and transformed his game in a way that no other player could from one year to the next. Leads the league in blocked shots and is still the driving force for this team’s offence. 14 points in 12 games. He’s making multiple jaw-dropping defensive plays a night. He may not win the Award to back it up (again) but for my money, Erik Karlsson is the best defenceman in hockey right now. Period.
-For all the struggles of the Ottawa power play, they came up big in the third period and at a crucial time in the game. After watching their second period attempt with the man advantage where entering the zone looked damn near impossible, my expectations were pretty low when they got another opportunity in the third period. But that Mike Hoffman goal and the sequence leading up to it was as good as it gets. It’s goals like that- puck retrieval by Stone, elite pass by Karlsson, ridiculous shot by Hoffman- that have fans wanting and expecting more from Ottawa on the power play. If they could ever get that thing figured out on a consistent basis, they would be pretty tough to beat.
-His underlying numbers have been remarkable all year but in the last month or so, it seems like Derick Brassard is taking his game to another level. When the Senators acquired Brassard this summer, he came with the reputation of a player who is at his best when the games get tougher. We’re seeing that from Brassard right now. His chemistry with Mark Stone has developed over the course of the season to the point where it’s damn near impossible for Boucher to separate them now. Alex Burrows seems like the perfect fit on that line too.
-Zdeno Chara is as mean as they come. A truly intimidating presence on the ice. He may have lost a step in his old age but he’s still freakishly strong. Maybe one of the toughest guys in the league. And that’s why it was surprising to see him hit the deck so easily on that tap by Mark Stone. If you watch the replay in slow motion, you can see Chara start to react before the stick even makes contact. Clearly trying to draw one in that situation. The fact that he’d try that after delivering six cross checks to Mark Stone’s back is pretty bold. Chara wasn’t the only Bruin to take a dive last night either.
Boucher’s Post-Game Comments
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